Oakland council closes $8 million budget gap

Oakland

On Tuesday, Oakland's police officers voted to cut their pay, saving the city $8.5 million this year, and the federal government gave the city $6.7 million to fund 41 police officers for 2009-10 - but the city still had to scramble to prevent layoffs in the Police Department and balance the budget.

The Oakland City Council unanimously closed an $8 million budget gap Tuesday night by sifting through a series of line items. It decided against the most controversial cuts, keeping the main library open seven days a week and saving the jobs of neighborhood service coordinators, who are liaisons between the Police Department and residents.

The cuts were the climax of a dramatic day that began with the police officers' vote.

The police force is a critical piece of the city's budget, not least because Oakland has one of the nation's five highest violent crime rates. A citizen initiative, Measure Y, guaranteed funding for 63 officers as long as the city budgets for 739 officers, for a total of 802 officers.

The city is currently budgeted for 803, including the Measure Y officers. The current active force, as of Monday, was 799, down from more than 830 at the beginning of the year.

Getting the police force over 802 was a push led by Mayor Ron Dellums, and it has led to a 13 percent drop in crime in the city this year. With such a dramatic effect, police and city leaders are loath to cut even a few officers.

The police are particularly concerned about losing staff after four officers were slain March 21. The union voted to delay for four years a 4 percent increase it was due July 1, eliminate six paid holidays and, for the first time, agreed to contribute to their retirement fund in 2013. The bottom line was to save jobs.

Concern for one another's safety played a critical role in the "overwhelming" union support, said Sgt. Dom Arotzarena, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association.

"We need to keep everyone we have," said Arotzarena. "It will be a catastrophe if we lose any more."

The police vote came on the heels of a decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to award Oakland $19.7 million over three years - more than any other city in the nation.

The city had asked for $67 million, but the Justice Department had been deluged by requests from cities struggling in the worst economy in 70 years. There were 7,200 requests for a total of $8.3 billion, but these Community Oriented Policing Services grants had been budgeted for only $1 billion.

As a result, the program capped the amount any city would receive at 50 officers or 5 percent of its budget, whichever was less. The $19.7 million Oakland received was the maximum the rules allowed.

Dellums had said residents should expect Oakland to bring in more COPS grant funding than any other city in the nation, given his 31 years in Congress and the considerable time he spent on the effort.

Dellums said the grant size was the product of a careful proposal written by city staff. But asked whether it was also a validation of his efforts, he said, "Yes."